This application claims Paris Convention Priority of DE 101 62 585.5 filed Dec. 19, 2001, the complete disclosure of which is hereby incorporated reference.
The invention concerns a relay comprising a contact spring which closes or interrupts the electric circuit between a first and a second relay contact, one end of the contact spring being conductively connected to the first relay contact and its other free end closing or interrupting the electric circuit in a first end position of the contact spring and in a second end position of the contact spring, respectively; an armature which can be adjusted by a reversible magnetic field for deflecting the contact spring into the respective end position; and an additional spring biasing the contact spring into the first end position.
A relay of this type is known e.g. from DE 93 20 696 U1.
In this known relay, an electric circuit between two electric relay contacts is closed or interrupted by a contact spring. The contact spring is connected to a permanent magnet of an H-type armature via a displaceable actuator, the permanent magnet being pivotably disposed on two yoke legs of a magnet coil. When the poles of the magnet coil are reversed, the permanent magnet is pivoted thereby displacing the actuator. Since the actuator engages behind the contact spring, the contact spring is deflected from its closed rest position such that the electric circuit is interrupted. The free end of the contact spring is biased towards the closed end position through a leaf spring which is mounted on the side of the housing and acts on an actuating button of the contact spring.
It is the object of the invention to bias the contact spring of a relay of the above-mentioned type in a different fashion in the direction towards the closed end position.
This object is achieved in accordance with the invention in that the additional spring is supported, at least in the first end position, on the armature or on an actuator of the armature.
The advantage obtained by the invention consists in bounce-reduced switching of the relay into the closed relay position since the additional spring counteracts deflection of the contact spring in the opening direction when the relay is in the closed position.
The additional spring is mounted to the armature or to the actuator of the armature or in particularly preferred embodiments of the invention to the contact spring, in particular to its free end.
The additional spring is preferably a flat or leaf spring from electrically conducting material such as e.g. steel, beryllium, Cu-alloys etc.
In one variant of the invention, the free end of the additional spring is directed towards the free end of the contact spring. The free end of the additional spring preferably projects past the free end of the contact spring.
In other variants of the invention, the free end of the additional spring can also project laterally past the contact spring or be directed away from the free end of the contact spring.
The actuator is preferably disposed such that it can be linearly displaced approximately in the deflecting direction of the contact spring and is motionally coupled to the free end of the contact spring.
In preferred embodiments of the invention, the contact spring is directly coupled with the armature or the actuator of the armature in the opening direction of the relay, and is motionally coupled thereto in the closing direction of the relay via the additional spring. In one variant, the actuator engages behind the free end of the contact spring and carries along the contact spring in the opening direction.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the actuator is directly hinged to the armature and therewith directly motionally coupled to the armature. The pressure of the contact spring on the second relay contact is provided by the pressure force of the compressed additional spring.
In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the actuator is motionally coupled with the armature by means of a coupling spring acting therebetween. The pressure of the contact spring on the second relay contact is provided by the pressure of the compressed additional spring and the compressed coupling spring.
Further advantages of the invention can be extracted from the description and the drawing. The features mentioned above and below can be utilized in accordance with the invention either individually or collectively in any arbitrary combination. The embodiments shown and described are not to be understood as exhaustive enumeration but rather have exemplary character for describing the invention.